Monday, July 30, 2007

Gladys Rising

Somewhere around 1:00 on Saturday afternoon, with several thousand Middleboro voters still congregated on the ball fields behind the high school, I took a much need break from waving my No Casino sign and collapsed under a shade tree out front. There wasn't much for any of us on the outside to do at that point since we couldn't see or hear anything going on at the meeting.

And so, it was with no small amount of delight that I discovered I'd found the one spot in Middleboro where you could almost get an earful of what was being said under the tents out back. Almost. But I was easily able to identify the voice of the speaker - Jacquie Tolosko, the president of CasinoFacts.org.

Though I couldn't make out the actual words she was saying, it was the emotion in her voice, carried on the breeze with it’s strength and honesty, which rolled over the hill and down the lawn to me. Suddenly, I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd been.

Later, I would learn that while Jacquie had been speaking, her voice broke twice. And when it did, a large part of the crowd seized the opportunity to mock her en mass. As if her sincerity tickled their funny bones. As if her concerns for children and family were laughable matters.

It’s difficult for me to comprehend what kind of sociopathic low-brow trailer trash would do that sort of thing to a person so courageous as to stand before three-thousand strangers and speak from the heart, but clearly they’re charter members of that same sad deluded faction which actually believes a casino is their friend.

Back at home on Sunday morning, I awoke to the sun, stultifying heat, and fifty messages from assorted family and friends. They were all essentially the same:

"I’m so sorry." "How are you?" "After all your hard work… we lost."

Lost? We didn’t lose. We were vindicated.

A month ago, members of CasinoFacts scrambled to gather enough signatures in only two days for one purpose – to place an article on the ballot which asked the obvious question - Did the people of Middleboro even want a casino?

We wanted that question on the ballot because of the very nature of the other question on the ballot. Did the people of Middleboro approve of the agreement.

We wanted to hear what the People really wanted, because we knew they'd been lead to believe that if they didn’t say ‘yes’ to the agreement - that the Tribe would build a casino anyway, and that they’d be left with a big nasty casino and no money (like Bridgewater.) And so I refer to this as the fear and intimidation vote.

The real vote, the true vote, binding or not, was the overwhelming show of hands that demonstrated that Middleboro didn’t want a casino. And this is the vote that the Secretary of the Department of the Interior will see when deciding whether allow the Tribe to take that land into trust.

And if Middleboro doesn’t want a casino, you can imagine how we, in the outlying communities, must feel. And guess what? We get a say with the Department of the Interior, too.

So, will Glenn Marshall go against the wishes of the host community? Could it be possible that in his long life he somehow missed the lesson that ‘No means No?’ Or does he actually plan on date-raping the town of Middleboro?

Time will tell.

In the meantime, it’s apparently going to be up to us to get the word out about the NO vote, because the Fourth Estate seems to have taken a vacation day. No mention of it at all as far as I can tell except in the Herald. The TV news, the Globe and The Enterprise all forgot to mention it, and thus mislead their viewers and readers to understand that Middleboro 'approved a casino'. They didn't. They 'approved an agreement' they didn't think they had much of a choice of turning down.

I don’t know if it’s the reporters - because I’ve watched them scratch down every word in every meeting we shared a seat at - or their editors who are responsible for neglecting to tell the whole story of the Town Meeting. But it’s completely inexcusable. Speaking of which, Brockton Enterprise, if you plan on ripping off any more material from this blog you’d better start giving me my own byline.

So, my darling readers, it’s up to us. Get out your pens, and once again put to use those formidable writing skills I’ve seen you demonstrate with such frequency in the opinion section leading up to this debacle. Send your editorials to every paper in every town – and every town has a paper – and get out the word. It’s sad we have to do the newspaper’s job for them, but do it we will.

The battle isn't over. Just as the wind carried only Ms. Tolosko’s brave voice down to me on Saturday, and not that of the vicious sounds of her detractors, it will be our cause which will, at this war's end, rise up and prevail over ignorance, stupidity and greed.

38 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I also noticed the lack of reporting on article 3. I did hear the comment "that vote doesn't reflect the town because half the voters had left by then". With that thought process then the vote on the aggreement also doesn't count since 75% of the registered voters were not present for the article 2 vote.

Gladys is boss,Bond is bland.If he picks on you I'll stick his face in the sand.-Just a quick rhyme. If the town meeting was a boxing match it would of went like this:"There's a left,a right,a swing and a miss","a low blow, and the no casino group hits the canvas clutching thier balls." "The ref is calling it a knock down, with a resounding boo from the crowd." "This could be it folks, wait, they're getting up, they look very determined", "to your neutral corners please." "OK, fight!",WAAP! "I can't believe it,the casino heavyweight falls like a ton of high stakes bingo chips"."1,2.....7,8,9..10" Knock out! 'Winner and still Middleborough's champion,REAL PEOPLE,WHO LIVE REAL LIVES THAT STILL DO NOT WANT A CASINO IN THEIR TOWN AND WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT!' BRING IT ON!

Fro one idiot to another...zoning laws are supposedly making us take down our lawn signs tonight...Am I suddenly living in a communist country? My Lawn. My sign...and it will stay where it is. How else will the news people find me...LOL

Gladys, I am so happy you are back. I kept looking all sat night and sunday for just a voice to let me know that the fight is still on. I was getting concerned. It is a joke that article 3 wasn't covered by anyone. I heard a quick mention on one station but that was all. Anyway, I will write letters to all once again.

On a side note....the portable toilets were not nearly enough to last the whole day. I went in one at 12:30, used the last bit of TP and of course squatted for hygenic reasons but if I had sat down......the last person's TP would have touched my bottom......really gross!!!!!!!

It’s difficult for me to comprehend what kind of sociopathic low-brow trailer trash would do that sort of thing to a person so courageous as to stand before three-thousand strangers and speak from the heart, but clearly they’re charter members of that same sad deluded faction which actually believes a casino is their friend.

She wasn't so courageous at a selectmans meeting when I seen her and 3 friends laugh and joke about denying elderly and handicapped the auditorium "sociopathic low-brow trailer trash" come on show some class work on bettering this deal instead of trying to rairoad the enevitable.

Another thing, people knew about this town meeting, I think the whole United States knew about itwhy wern't the Middleboro people there please do not call me an Idiot but i think the people with the BMW's,Corvettes,Sabbs etc! that gave me the thumbs down at the rotary just had to much to do at there summer homes than sweat out there like the rest of the brave souls.The vote you got was because nobody cared except Anti casino people everyone else was out of there. because it didn't mean nothing except to the ANTI'S crowd.Now you can wave that flag around and twist and turn it every which way until you cant get anymore out of it

ITS over take it to the STATE and Federal level with your crying but 2010 take me too Casinoboro.

Thanks for writing about the rudeness Mrs. Tolosko was subjected to. She spoke from her heart; people should have respected that and not ridiculed her. There are more than a few of us out here in anonymous-land that share her sadness and laud the courage she showed speaking her mind. I for one will not forget her words, even though the media has not deigned to cover them.

First of all, I was at every selectman's meeting with Ms. Tolosko, and she and I were NOT laughing at the handicapped and elderly. We were laughing at the ineptitude of the selectmen rushing into this outdoor summer meeting at the peril of the handicapped and elderly. Ms. Tolosko is a medical professional who understood the dangers the poloticians did not. (Ingorance)

Second... Casinoboro? (Stupidity)

Third: MSN Limo (Greed)

Fourth: "why wern't the Middleboro people there please do not call me an Idiot but i think the people with the BMW's,Corvettes,Sabbs etc! that gave me the thumbs down at the rotary just had to much to do at there summer homes than sweat out there like the rest of the brave souls." (Huh?)

This has been yet another gentle reminder that I do not write this blog for YOU. And this is not the baseball field behind the high school. If you want to come here and post here, you'd better be wearing your nice pants and holding a big bouquet of respect.

And to Shelly a few posts up - Gladys needed some rest and a good meal - but you betcha! She's back and she's not going away.And it's a wonder Mr. Brunelle hadn't thought to hand out adult diapers along with the bottled water. Thanks for your continued support.

Isn't it a little too soon for Pro-Casino folks to be crowing about their victory? It will be years before we know the true effect a casino will have on Middleboro. This reminds me a little of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech.

The Boston Globe had a story on the impact of the Casionos in Conn and the thing that went up the most was DRUG arrests.Middleboro is already INFECTED with Cocain. Its every where and no one seems to care.We had a stabbing in the center of town lately and a house burned to the ground on Barrows street just .2 miles from the fire station.They wernt stealing the copper from the burnt house to pay for their mothers needed operation its for DRUGS....No sirens from the fire trucks or Police crusers while responding to the fire either.

There is a police officer caught clearly on the ComCast video stuffing a wad of ballots into the ballot box as it moved past him in the mellee. There are people on the field with hands clearly lacking red smudges wearing orage tee shirts.Anybody watching how flawed this process was?NO ONE checked for hand stamps in the chaos surrounding the voting.Flawed & Fraudulent!

Why was Selectman Bond telling people that Wayne Perkins had an agreement in his hands prior to the land auction?Why did Queen Victoria experience a major casino conversion and begin house hunting shortly thereafter? Anyone asking?

You are the blog queen! I love reading them. I was at the meeting and am totally outraged by the behavior of the moderator and the Selectmen. Middleboro is truly run by idiots. To sit in the 90 degree heat and listen to the Middleboro finance committee reject the offer because it is a bad deal financially then have the Selectmen try to convince us it was a great profitable deal for the town was too much BS for me to swallow. It is obvious that the Selectmen need to be voted out (I can not wait for the recall!!). Thanks to Adam Bond and the other incompetent selectmen currently in office, all I can think of is the movie "Animal House" and our new motto in Middleboro will be "Thank You Mr. Marshall, may I have another?"!! I am glad this is now at a point where other communities can now organize and rally against the casino. A lot of people I know are against it -- our voices need to be heard by the Massachusetts Legislature. We can do it!! We no longer have to tolerate the deaf, dumb, and blind Selectmen of Middleboro!

First of all, I am vehemently opposed to having a casino in our sleepy little hollow. And our family has worked hard over the weeks to get the facts out, display signs, and otherwise do what we could to wake people up.

We have been proud to align ourselves with casinofacts.org, a group of people who stuck to the issues, instead of getting their feet stuck in the manure...........until now.

Gladys, I do believe you've become a little enamored of your popularity in this venue. But, while your early posts were clever, creative, and on target, you seem to have slipped into the verbal flaming practices that must be avoided if we are to be effective in our goal of defeating this casino. Calling anyone "sociopathic...trailer trash" is inappropriate and snarky. And it's not going to win anyone to our side.

Thank you for your praise for my earlier work. Those pieces were created to get printed in newspapers.

But this blog is my little corner of the free speech universe. If you don't like it, or you have a problem with something I've said, it might have been better dealt with, if in fact you are, as you suggest, a member of casinofacts, by contacting me directly. We are a cohesive group which knows how to get in touch with each other when necessary and have a conversation.

And I am not flaming anyone. But be forewarned, from here on, the white gloves are off. If people are going to act like sociopathic, low brow trailer trash, then Gladys is going to let the rest of the world know it. I didn't say this about everyone who showed up at that meeting and voted 'Yes' did I? No. Just the ones who exhibited the worst sort of public behavior. I've also been told by real live casinofacts members that this blog has recently managed to cease some of that reprehensible behavior and make life easier for the anti-casino folks - because others know they're going to be called on it.

And enamoured of myself? What? You mean with getting mile-long love-notes day and night from ex-selectmen, current selectmen, my pal 'Precious', and let's not forget the well-spoken Mr. Limo, all in the name of free speech. Gosh, who wouldn't feel like a queen with that kind of attention.

The complaints about ballot box stuffing are coming in!They're being written, faxed, collected to be submitted to the BOS. Keep watching! It's all caught on video! Don't you just love all those security cameras!Now the question is whether the state elected officials will do their jobs.They didn't the last time!

Did anyone notice the bruises on Mr. Thomas's back from patting himself? He was so proud of himself for having secured those 60 'volunteers' from the Lakeville IBEW ! Gee, were they the same guys who were paid to wave signs at the Rotary? Gee, are they the same guys who cast ballots with no red hand stamps? Didn't 'volunteers' have photos taken for their badges? Gee, shouldn't someone review the videotapes?

I wonder if the "technical error " was not having someone specifically turn off that open mike on the stage!By the way, about the media; the Enterprise mentioned me once, and messed it up. I did in fact make the comment that Mr. Thomas has lost control of the meeting but it wasn't in reference to what they said. I would have written a letter but as they only published one ( and edited it so badly noone could tell I was against the casino, I figured it was a waste of my time). By the way, a reporter from the enterprise directly heard the political open mike blunder but it was not reported. Too bad, it would have been a good article. Also, hopefully the gazette has the nerve to print my latest letter.In it, I expressed my outrage to those who mocked Jackie. I didn't figure the offenders would read our blogs. The ONLY thing that stopped me from throttling the ones I heard was that I would have lost my vote, and as it turned out, a chance to speak. Of everything that infuriated me saturday, I believe that got me the worst. And as for those who left before article 3, it was clearly printed on the warrant. No excuse. We won that article fairly. Some no votes surely left as well.

First of all, I thought you said you were done; you wouldn't be back. Since you're still posting, I wanted to let you knowthat in my spare time when I'm not still fighting against what you are advocating ( for your own SELFISH reasons ), I have a new campaign to wage. By the way, I work in Raynham. Many have conducted themselves with class throughout this campaign. You, sir, clearly have not. I am glad that you don't live in Middleboro.

I was sitting next to a man wearing an "iron worker - proud to be union" t-shirt who couldn't stop booing and cat-calling any anti-casino debater. Finally, a man sitting in front of me told him there was no need to keep up the yelling, his "yes" vote will win - there was no reason to be impolite. Thank you to him for calling this other man on his rude behavior. I must admit I felt intimidated by his hotheaded antics, so I just tried my best to ignore him and occassionally give him a kind smile. However, after he laughed and booed Ms. T, I must admit I threw some daggers his way, because I felt exactly the same way she did. I love my neighbors and we have a great little community of caring, friendly people, and the rural nature of Middleboro is why we still call here "home." It was after her speech that the man in front of me finally told him to clamp it. I really hope and pray that casinos never get built in this town or even this state. The Wampanoags could do so much better to display their pride in thier heritage. Why taint it?

No Spin,I told you I am a Man,I told him Im sorry for doing that. I know when I am wrong.I should have never done it. I joined the rest of the low lifes that did it too me,Wen I was at the rotary.I am truly sorry for stooping to there level. As for the gentlemen who has an agenda. My industry stinks as it is.Ill be lucky if I am around in 3-5 years but I am sickto death of higher gas, airport fees,insurance etc!! As I said before take that casino and stick it wherever,I want the 1500 room hotel and confrence center it would mean more work for me I do 90% airport transportation I have 2 little children 2-4 and a mortgage to worry about never mind the 8 drivers I have depending on me for income it seems every tom dick and harry that gets laid off thinks this is an easy usiness to start up they all undercut you with rates then when they see how working 100 or more hours a week there gone.you sir call me Greedy I would like to know what you give back.I run a free service for Raynham New Years Eve working in Cordination with MADD, I just donated vehicles to Mucular Dystrophy I donated my buses to Middleboros elderly you dont have the right to call me greedy.

Work on your stupid agenda my reputation sir will carry me over any hurdles you can throw my way.

MSM Exec Limousine508-386-3932 my name is Mike call anytime.Ill tell you how I really feel about your non sense.

Dear Mr. Limo, From the tone of your post, I feel that calling you would result in nothing better than a shouting match, after which nothing would be resolved. First, the business I am in is extremely competive as well.Personally, my expenses are going up all the time too, especially fuel and insurance. I don't dispute that. In Middleboro, WHERE I ACTUALLY LIVE, we are in serious financial trouble. As I have children in school in town, I too am concerned about many of the same things you say you are concerned about. I have seen you around a lot advertising for this proposal,and my issue with that is this;For your personal profit you have been advocating something which has been proven to add to the decline of our society. I have no problem with the hotel or anything else the Tribe has planned ; it is the CASINO that my issue is with.You ask what I have given back; I cannot claim anything as grand as you have. I have only spent countless hours trying to stop something which I feel would over the long term ruin MY town. I, unlike you, have no financial gain in this. I just want to raise my children in a place where the highest point is a church steeple.I have two problems with gambling.The first reason is in the Bible.The second is that gambling subconsiously teaches that one need not work for profit, all they need to do is find a way to beat the odds. Success in this life comes from working hard ( which I do not doubt that you do )not by taking chances or cutting corners.You, sir, took a chance with MY community. That is where my issue lies.And as for your reputation, I have no intention of harming it. You are doing a fine job of that yourself.

Limo man, shame on you. First of all, I was one of those people that gave you the thumbs down....I'll say this, I wasn't driving one of the autos you mention. Besides, what does any of that really matter? Clearly your visiting our site, which is a good sign. But I venture to bet, you're here for all the wrong reasons.

Sure, it will be good for your line of work, but why should I have to "take one for the team?" Try to think with something other than your wallet.

Speaking of cars in your limo fleet, aren't you quite the hypocrite. I don't imagine your showing up in a Toyota Prius, or are you?

In my experience as a former hospitality executive and a former vendor to the Mouse, Mears Transportation or some other national transportation company will become the "preferred" carrier. They may toss you a bone at first to sate any "buy local" demands, but you will be quickly forgotten. Your words here and the photos of you and your ragtag employees at the rotary will long outlast your relationship with the casino.

My sister lives in Marshfield. I asked her what she thought of Middleboro approving the casino deal. She said, "I think there might be some good nightlife and shows to go to." I asked her if she would want a casino in Marshfield and she said, "Hmmm, No."

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Who is Gladys?

In early 2007 I first heard about land right down the street in Middleboro being sold to build a casino, and knew the problems a casino would create weren't going to stop short at the town border.

Aside from voting, I'd never participated in government, so I didn't know what to expect when I went to Middleboro town hall to sit in on an informational meeting about the casino - but I didn't expect to hear an attorney, who claimed to be an expert in tribal law, telling everyone that it was all over. To give up and sign on the dotted line.

That didn't seem right to me. It didn't even seem American to me.

I heard a lot of pros and cons of expanded gambling that night, and over the next few years, but most of the things I learned scared me. Witnessing the process scared me more. So I guess I just decided to stop being scared, and start fighting.

I met a lot of fantastic (and not so fantastic) people along the way, and became part of grassroots movement to preserve quality of life, kick corporate influence out of politics, and rid government of it's gambling addiction.